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Holliday earns Silver Slugger Award

Holliday earns Silver Slugger Award

DENVER -- Matt Holliday is getting one final piece of hardware to commemorate his time with the Rockies.

Holliday, traded to the Athletics this week, was named Thursday as one of the winners of the Silver Slugger Award for the third consecutive year.

In 2008, which also was the third straight year he was named to the National League All-Star roster, Holliday hit .321 with a .409 on-base percentage, with 25 home runs and 88 RBIs. The trade gives Holliday, 28, the opportunity to pursue the award in the American League.

The Silver Slugger award winners were determined by a vote of Major League Baseball coaches and managers who vote for the players they felt were the best offensive producers at each position in both leagues in 2008. Selections are based on a combination of offensive statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, as well as the coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value. Managers and coaches were not allowed to vote for players on their own team.

The specially designed Silver Slugger will be presented to each player by a representative of the Hillerich & Bradsby Co., makers of Louisville Slugger, the Official Bat of Major League Baseball, in a ceremony early in the 2009 season. The trophy is three feet tall and bears the engraved name of the winner and his Silver Slugger teammates in his respective league. The Silver Slugger Award was instituted by H&B in 1980.